I didn’t go to church on Christmas | Waiting Still Day 25

I didn’t go to church yesterday
Day Twenty-Five | Waiting Still

My family and I didn’t make it to church yesterday
Omicron is spreading and the healthcare system
seems like it might break entirely in January
I’m not sharing as judgment
It’s just the decision we made
And it was a difficult one

On our way home from my in-laws
we streamed my dad’s Christmas Eve service
He’s a pastor in the North Country
My daughter and I sang along to the carols
and we listened to the sermon
Dad’s always been a good preacher

He told a few stories
to help us remember what Christmas is all about

Incarnation

The Divine Presence
in and through all the Earth and Stars
and in these Human Bodies

It was a good message
A little long (wink, wink, Dad)
We were nearing our home and he was still going
so we took a left instead of a right
We drove past the Christmas lights in town
and around the lakes

The detour even inspired an impromptu
Christmas caroling moment
outside my best friend’s parent’s home
We paused the stream
hopped out of the car
and butchered Good King Wenceslas
Laughing

Dad’s message ended as we turned onto our street
We sang one verse of “Once in Royal David City”
and pulled into the drive

This Christmas (and last)
was so different from Christmases past
I long to be together
in community
holding a candle and singing “Silent Night”
with people I love
Still, there was something so beautiful
about my family’s time together in the car
I know we’ll remember it for years to come

God With Us in the waiting

In the waiting, we’re creating
Divine Life

•

I knew we wouldn’t be going to church
so yesterday morning I made it a point
to practice intentional noticing
Where did I see Christ Incarnate

This is what I saw and heard and felt

Pigeons flying over silo and barn and farmhouse
Hawks hunting from tree limbs
Roadside sumac now maroon

How many more minutes?
All the children’s questions

Peppermint and chocolate
Notes from friends

Tension in my neck and shoulders
Tired in my body

The grace of a young girl
navigating disappointment one moment
and pure joy an hour later

Phone calls to great-grandfather
who was checking in on an old friend
recovering from COVID

Chubby toddler legs

The warmth of the sun on my face after dinner
Melting snow and muddy knees

Christmas hats
Stories of car rides to midnight mass in new pajamas

Graffiti on an eastbound train full of lumber
Layers of clouds and sky at sunset
Purple and yellow and blue, gray and pink
The snores of a three-year-old

All of it
Christ

Merry Christmas, Beloveds

Peace and breath in our Noticing and Creating